


The Letters

by Mare9548



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Annabelle Smoak-Queen, Father-Son Relationship, Future Fic, Gen, SotY fic, Tommy Smoak-Queen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 07:24:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7499310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mare9548/pseuds/Mare9548
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver never imagined who really was behind those letters he got over the years</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Letters

It was on that first fall, just after Oliver had been officially elected as mayor of Star City, when the first letter came in. Oliver never imagined that being in office would bring the novelty of receiving what in essence was fan mail. Especially in these modern times when there are more efficient and immediate methods of communication.

Felicity, who was at the time still fighting against Palmer Tech’s board to get her job back as CEO, and as if she didn’t have enough working with him on the nights too, helped him expand his presence as mayor in the social media. In short time, the inhabitants of the city could interact with City Hall and him in all the platforms available. He was everywhere.

To his pleasant surprise, not all messages were complaints as he thought they would be. Many were of encouragement and gratitude toward him and his good services. Hence the fan mail.

Apparently, there were still people that preferred using the old fashioned and regular mail. Dozens of letters arrived at City Hall every week. People on his staff had the job of sorting them out. Just a few of those letters would get to his desk, while the rest would be replied by somebody on the PR team, he supposed.

Early in the morning one day, Oliver was checking the correspondence that Teresa, his assistant, had left for him on his desk. Unlike any day, that time there was one out of the ordinary. The writing on it was clearly from a child. Curiosity made him read it right away. He didn’t expect all the feelings surging inside him as he read.

For what he could guess, the child was about eight or nine years old. That made him think about his own son and how he wished that things were different. Perhaps that was the reason why Oliver put so much care in reading. He imagined that who was writing to him was William.

“Teresa, could you come to my office for a moment, please?” he asked her through the intercom.

“I’ll be right there.”

Five seconds later, she opened the door of his office and walked in. “Do you need anything, sir?

“I found this letter on my desk. Do you know who sent it?”

The envelope was nowhere to be seen and the message was signed by ‘Guillermo Reina’.

Teresa came closer to examine the paper, “Oh, I’m sorry, sir. My mistake. This shouldn’t be here. I don’t how it got mislaid. I’ll take it to Peter. He handles this kind of things.”

“No, no. It’s okay, Teresa. I’ll reply to the letter myself. Just find out where it came from.”

“As you wish, sir,” she smiled at him, giving the letter back. Before she left his office, she paused at the door and turned back to him. “You know, Mr. Queen, Peter keeps the most touching letters you get, most of them written by children like that one, and all say the same thing. You’re their hero.”

Oliver had come a long way in accepting when someone labeled as such. He no longer denied it outright when it was about his alter ego, but still had some reticence when someone said it the public persona. About Oliver Queen.

“I’m just a man, Teresa,” he said, shyly.

“Not for those children, sir. Neither for many of us.”

With that, she left him alone. Oliver decided to accept her words. He didn’t feel like a hero, not really. He had failed to save many people, including those closest to him. The city was regrouping once again, after the destruction that Darhk had left behind. If he had been smarter and faster, no one would have suffered. The team wouldn’t have split. Laurel could be still alive.

But perhaps being a hero wasn’t about coming victorious every time. Maybe it was about never giving up. About fight with the best of your abilities, hoping it was enough, and getting up when you fell. To fight for what was right, and not for what was easy.

And that’s exactly what Oliver wrote Guillermo. He told the boy that he could be a hero too.

Oliver replied the letter and thought that he would never hear from Guillermo again. However, a few weeks later a second letter came in. This time Teresa had left it on purpose on his desk. In this one, Guillermo no longer praised him, but asked him for advice. There was a bully on his school. He asked if Oliver could talk to the Green Arrow, for a favor. That put a smile on Oliver’s face.

To make the long story short, the months and years passed and more letters came and went. Oliver got used to getting glimpses of Guillermo’s life. In return, Oliver did the same. He never on thought having a pen pal, much less one who was a child, but he really liked it. It felt good to know that Guillermo counted on him, as he hoped somebody else was there for William. That was his way of stalling his own guilt for not being there for his son. Many times, when he was down because of it, he only had to think about something that Guillermo had said in his last letter to lift his spirit.

At some point, the physical letters stopped and switched for e-mails. But the same friendship continued.

It passed almost a decade when they finally met in person. Guillermo was graduating from High School and was going to college. Guillermo said that he was considering Star City University as a possibility and that he wanted to visit the city and campus before choosing to which university to go. He had been accepted in four or five more. Oliver offered that he could be his tour guy when he was in town.

So that Saturday morning, amidst of a regular family mayhem, he and Felicity were excited to receive their guest. She was getting their children dressed, while he picked up the table and washed the dishes from breakfast.

“Daddy!!” he smiled, hearing the sweet screech of his four-year-old daughter, Annabelle, who was running to him. “When your friend is coming?” she asked when she stopped in front of him. “He should be here! You said he’d be here, didn’t you?”

He looked down at her, and his heart skipped a beat. She looked just like her mother when Felicity was the same age. Annabelle was wearing a pale green frilly princess dress and matching leggings. She had her dark wavy hair in pigtails. She looked so adorable with her chubby hands on her hips and a disgruntled expression on her face.

“Yes, princess. I said that,” Oliver dried his hands and squatted down to get to her level. Caressing her cheek, he said, “It’s still early for him to get here, though.”

“But you said he’d be here after breakfast,” she cocked her head slightly to one side. “It’s already after breakfast, daddy.”

“But I didn’t say immediately after breakfast, honey.”

“Then you should have explained it better. I’m all dressed up and don’t like waiting.”

Oliver had the hardest time holding the laugh bubbling inside his chest. He should be concerned that, at her age, Annabelle was so bossy. Instead, he melted due to how adorable she was. He knew he was spoiling her rotten, but didn’t regret it.

“All ready, huh?”

“Yes,” she nodded, with enthusiasm.

“What about your shoes?”

Annabelle looked down at her feet, curling her toes. She flashed him an innocent smile when she raised her eyes back at him. She knew it would be enough to let her off the hook. But before either she or Oliver could say anything more, Felicity’s voice got to their ears.

“Belle? Where are you baby? Did put your shoes on?”

“Go,” Oliver told her, “before you get into trouble.”

He slapped her tush, playfully, sending her away. She let out a small squeal and ran away to do what her mother had asked her to do, “I’m on it!” she yelled half way her room. Shaking his head, Oliver went back to the chores.

About an hour later, the whole family was in the living room, as any Saturday morning. Oliver was playing with Annabelle sitting on the floor; meanwhile Felicity was on the couch, rocking to a fussy Tommy, their seven-month-old baby boy, who wasn’t feeling all that well. He had his first teeth coming out.

The intercom buzzed. Someone was downstairs at the main door of the building.

“I’ll get that,” Oliver said, standing up and going to answer. “Yes?”

“It’s me, Guillermo Reina.”

“Oh, hi, Guillermo. I’ll let you in. Take the elevator to the fifth floor. Take the right when you’re up,” he instructed, pressing the button that opened the door downstairs.

“Got it!”

After a few minutes, Guillermo knocked on the door. Oliver was a man who was proud of always be prepared for any eventuality. Since his time on the island. But this, he didn’t see it coming. When he opened the door of his home, he never thought he’d find the flawless image of himself, only 20 years younger. As soon he saw the young man before him, with the same face, those same blue eyes, that same strong jaw that he saw every time he looked at a mirror, he knew who he really was.

Oliver was paralyzed with shock. His only reaction was saying his name on an exhalation of breath, “William.”

“Hi, dad.”

William couldn’t blame his biological father to be shocked. He guessed that anyone would be, if one’s child appeared on the door out of the sudden. His old insecurities and doubts assaulted him once more. It had taken him years to take the courage to come here. He wondered if he had done the right thing to visit.

Oliver Queen was as shocked as he had been when he found out that he was his son.

William discovered the truth in the most fortuitous way possible. After he was kidnapped as a child, he and his mom moved away from Central city. At the time, he hadn’t understood why they had to leave. Much less, why not to return once the Green Arrow had taken out the man who had kidnapped him.

On his new school, the teacher put the assignment of writing about someone they admire. A hero. Obviously, he had written about the Green Arrow. Many of his classmates wrote about him, too. Also about the Flash, and other heroes in different cities. Only a few wrote about common people. One girl wrote about Oliver Queen, the new mayor of Star City.

He argued with the girl how a mayor could be better than the Green Arrow who fought bad guys every night.

“A person don’t need to wear a mask or use a bow to be a hero,” she said. “Working hard to make a difference is enough to be so.”

Her answer was something that stayed with him the rest of his life. When she stood in front of the class to talk about her personal hero, she showed some photos she had found on the Internet. Most were recent. However, there was one, an old one, where Oliver Queen was about the same age he was then.

That’s when he knew. It was his own face looking right at him. The resemblance was so striking that the others noticed it too. A boy asked him if he was his father. William denied it. First, because he was having a hard time believing it. And second, because if he was, then he was angry with him for abandoning him and his mom. He was no father to him.

He went home after school with the idea to ask his mother the truth. When he asked in the past about his father, she had said he was dead. That’s what everybody thought, though. For what the girl in his class had said, Queen had been stranded in an island for five years. He was lost even before William was born.

When his mother came home from work, he talked to her. She denied it. She told him the same lie she told him before. This time, he didn’t believe her. In the days after that, he kept insisting, until one night he heard her crying and talking over the phone with his grandmother. He sneaked out of bed to hear the conversation. He heard his mother saying that she was having doubts to have done the right thing. She worried about him finding out the truth. She also said that they went away for his protection. That his kidnapping had been because he was his father’s son.

“I don’t know to do, mom,” his mother said. “At first, I thought I was doing the right thing keeping William away from his father. You’d think that he got kidnapped would only make my conviction stronger, but it didn’t. I mean… I never thought he would really care about him. But he accepted me taking William away. He doesn’t even know where we are. Only because it protects William. That’s all he cares about.”

His grandmother said something he couldn’t hear.

“I know, I know. But you didn’t see him, mom. He was really devastated. He was ready to do whatever it took to see his son, at first. And gave up to that, even if he didn’t want to.”

William walked back to his room thinking. His father cared about it. His mother was the one who had kept them apart. He was angry with her. But there was something in her tone, in what she said, that made him realize that somehow they were in real danger. Just for that, he dropped the subject with his mother.

However, he started to do his own research. It took only a little time to connect the dots. His obsession with the Green Arrow never diminished. Searching everything about his father and his hero rivaled for his time and attention. It got worse when he noticed some very telling details.

People were too dumb not to see that Oliver Queen was the Green Arrow.

Which made him the son of the Green Arrow.

It was then when he decided to write him. But if they communicate each other put all them in danger, he had to find a way to do it safely. He found the solution when at school his English teacher explained what a pen name was. So, he used an alias to sign the letters. He wanted to feel close to his father, he wanted to show somehow that he was proud of him. He came with his Guillermo Reina alias taking his own name and his father’s last name, and then looking for the Spanish equivalent.

When he sent the first letter, he wasn’t sure if Oliver would ever read it. Getting a reply was the most amazing thing. He could communicate with his father, even if he didn’t who really was. So, the back and forward communication began.

Along the years, he started to know his father well. The kind of man he was. It made him want to be like him. It wasn’t just the things he did as Green Arrow, but how hard he worked for the city. How much he cared about others. Then he understood what that girl in his class had said.

As he got older, the wish to meet him personally grew stronger, but he doubted it his mother had allowed him to go to Star City. So when the time to send college applications, he didn’t doubt in sending one to SCU. It would be the perfect excuse to live in Star City and to be closer to his father. He wasn’t sure if he ever would take the courage to actually go to see him. But after he turned eighteen, his mother showed him the video his father made for him. That convinced William to go to him.

In the video, Oliver said that he hadn’t earned the right to his father, because he wasn’t there for him. William wanted to laugh when Oliver said he wasn’t there to guide him or give him advice. Only if he knew.

“You don’t seem surprised,” his mother cautiously told him, after he finished watching the video.

“I’ve known all that for years, mom,” he gave her a sheepish smile.

“All of it… even that he is—?”

“The Green Arrow. Yep. Even that.”

“How? When?”

“Many years ago. And don’t worry. I’m not mad at you,” _anymore_ , he added in his head. “Or to him, either.” He didn’t exactly like it, but he understood that both of his parents, all they did, was to love and protect him. Squaring his shoulders, he turned to face her. “Mom, I want to go to Star City. I want to meet him in person.”

She exhaled in resignation. It was obvious she expected that. “Okay,” she said.

That’s how he got at his father’s door that morning. He hoped that, as the same way he did, Oliver would forgive him by not telling him who he really was.

“How did you—? Your mother showed you the video,” Oliver answered his own question.

“Oliver,” a feminine voice called from inside. “Is everything okay?”

“Let your friend in, daddy,” a little girl’s voice said.

Oliver snapped out his astonished state, “Sorry. So sorry, William. You wanna come in?”

His father stepped back and let him in. Inside, Felicity Smoak, who had been his father’s wife since about six years, stood cradling a baby boy in her arms. As soon as she saw him, William’s gut knotted. He hadn’t been thinking when he decided to come there. Her bulged eyes were clear indication that she had made the connection between father and son. It was impossible not to do. Even when William lacked a stubbly face.

He realized that she might not be aware of his existence. The last thing he wanted was to cause trouble between husband and wife. That wasn’t why he was there.

“Holy frak!” she said, turning her gaze to her husband. “Oliver…”

Oliver stepped closer to William and introduced him, “William, this is my wife, Felicity, and our son, Tommy. Felicity, this is William,” and after a short hesitation, he added, “my son.”

William looked at his father for a moment. He could guess what that pause meant. He remembered the palpable guilt Oliver had shown in the video for not being there for William. If William could trust in how much he gotten known Oliver through the years, then he was almost certain that the feeling had never left his father. He nodded once, letting him know that he was okay being introduced as such.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Queen.”

“Oh, no. I’m not Mrs. Queen. Call me Felicity, please. Mrs. Queen was Oliver’s mother and she… well, she wasn’t the kind of person that I want to be compared to—” Oliver cleared his throat, loudly, cutting her babbling. “Sorry,” she said. Then she came around the couch and got closer to them. “Nice to meet you too, William. “

While they shook hands, she gave him a warm smile that eased his nerves. If she didn’t know about him before, she was taking it remarkably well.

“And this our daughter, Annabelle.”

“Hi,” he said to the girl.

She waved her fingers at him shyly, and turned to Oliver “Psst!” she whispered, tugging Oliver’s pants, “Daddy, did you say he’s your son? Like Tommy?”

“Yes, princess. He’s my son, just like Tommy is. Remember that I told you that you have an older brother you never met before?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he’s standing right next to you.”

William didn’t expect to know that his half-siblings knew about him. Honestly, he thought his existence was a big fat secret. “You told her about me?” he asked.

“Of course I did,” Oliver put his hand on his shoulder. “All my family and friends, the people that I really cared about, know about you. I know we have a lot of things to talk about, but I want you to know that, even when I wasn’t there for you growing up, I always loved you. I thought about you every day.”

William’s mouth went dry and his heart thumped faster hearing the sincerity on his father’s statement. One thing was dreaming and wishing that it was true, and another was hearing those words. He didn’t know how exactly to respond to that. However, his half-sister saved him from it. She tugged his clothes. He squatted down, getting down to her eye level. “Hi, Annabelle. I’m Willy.”

“Hi,” and before he knew what she was doing, Annabelle threw herself at him, wrapping her little arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

His heart melted with that loving embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Since he knew she was born, he always wondered how it would be her brother. He never had that. His mom had married a few years back too, but didn’t have any more children, and her new husband didn’t have any children. So, he always wondered how it would feel to have a brother or a sister.

When she pulled away, he asked her, “Do you like coloring?”

Curiosity picked up in her, “Yes.”

“Then, I have something for you.” He straightened up and looked inside his backpack that he left by the door. From within, he drew out a coloring book and a small box of crayons. “Here. I think you might like this.”

Her deafening shriek had been easy to endure, just watching the happy face that came with it. She ran to him, grabbed the gifts, and scurried away fast. She sat in one of the stools by the kitchen counter.

“Belle, what do you say?” her mother admonished.

“Thank you!” she said, already opening the box of crayons and putting herself to work.

“I think I got her the perfect gift,” he mused.

“You have no idea,” Oliver told him. “You might have become her favorite brother for life.”

It was a time later, when both father and son were sitting on the terrace. Felicity used the excuse to put the kids to sleep a nap to leave them alone. Oliver still couldn’t believe that he had his son sitting next to him. He thought that this day would never come. There was so much he wanted to tell him, and didn’t know where to begin.

“William… I—”

“Don’t need to tell me anything. I understand why you needed to keep your distance.”

“Anyway, I’m sorry. I should have been there for you. No matter what.”

“But you were! You didn’t know it was me, but since we started writing each other, I knew I could count on you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me… that it was you? Did you know I was your father then?”

William told him the story of how he found out that he was his father and why he had made the decision to keep the secret. Also, he told him how he found out about his alter ego. “I’m telling you. People are stupid. I can’t believe nobody has figured out who you are and what you do! If my old 10-year-old-me could, anyone should be able. Just sayin’!”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Too many have done it.”

Oliver couldn’t help his mind to all those people that tried to use the knowledge of his dual persona to their advantage and all those that paid the price for keeping the secret.

Both sat in silence for a while. Both immersed in their own thoughts. If he were watching the scene from outside, he would have noticed that both men were sitting in the same way. Both had their elbows on their knees and their hands together, their fingers entangled. Both had their head bowed. Both having the same facial expression. Despite of never being in the same room together, they were much more alike than just their features.

“If I move to the city…” William said, after a while with a slight hesitation, “would be okay if I can come by once in a while? I mean, I’ll be busy with classes and stuff, but I’d like to visit you sometimes.”

Oliver leveled his gazed to his son’s. “You can come any time you want. I’ll be here always for you. And not just me, I know Belle and Tommy will want to see you. They need their big brother. And Felicity would kill me if I don’t make sure you come as often as you like.”

As if his words had summoned her, Felicity appeared by the French doors. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to ask you, William, are you staying for dinner? I’m ordering some take out, so I need to know how much food I’m ordering.”

“I don’t know…” William started saying, but Oliver cut him off.

“He’s staying, hon.”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Bah!” Felicity said. “We love to have you here.”

“Okay, I’m staying,” William relented.

And that was the first time of the many that Oliver had all his children and wife dining under the same roof. After William started college, it became customary that he would have dinner with them at least twice a week.

And after spending the half of his life enduring a crucible and making sacrifices for the good of others, Oliver Queen finally had the reward for all that he went through. Finally, his biggest regret of his life was fading away and his life was complete. He had all the pieces of his life that made him happy. He had loyal friends who would give their lives for his, as he would give up his for theirs; he had the unconditional love of his sister; he was in love with the most amazing woman on the planet who love him back; and he was a father, a real father, to all his children. He couldn’t ask for anything more.


End file.
